Monday, February 9, 2015

Meet Me at the Beach - Excerpt & Giveaway

Meet
Me at the Beach
Seashell Bay # 1

By: V.K. Sykes

Releasing February 24th, 2015

Grand Central / Forever

Blurb:

YOU CAN’T STOP A RISING TIDE

When Lily Doyle spots her high school
crush Aiden Flynn on the inbound ferry, she knows trouble is about to dock in
Seashell Bay. And not just because he’s more handsome than ever. If Aiden’s in
town, the rumors must be true about his family’s plan to sell their coastal
land to the highest bidder. But Lily will do whatever it takes to convince the
hottest guy on the beach to protect their idyllic island home.

Gorgeous Lily Doyle was the only
thing Aiden missed after he escaped from his hometown to play pro baseball. Now
all Aiden wants is to wrap up the business deal and get back to his life, not
relive a past that still haunts him. But as memories rush in about the night of
passion he and Lily shared long ago, everything else washes right out to
sea-everything except the desire that still burns between them.

Aiden turned to face the five-foot-zero,
one-hundredpounds-dripping-wet dynamo who had more or less run Seashell Bay for
as long as he could remember. Annie Letellier was an eighty-three-year-old
member by marriage of the Doyle clan. And Lily’s grandmother.

“Good evening, Miss Annie,” he said.
“It’s a pleasure to see you looking so well.”

In khaki pants and a starched blue
shirt, Miss Annie propped her hands on her hips and tilted her head back to glare
up at him. “Don’t you try to sweet-talk me, Aiden Flynn. Your brother is acting
like a pure horse’s ass.”

Bram made a garbled sound of protest
that Aiden silenced with a sharp elbow.

“I’m sorry,” Aiden said politely. “You
know better than anyone that Bram was pretty much born that way.”

There were a few snickers from the
peanut gallery, and Miss Annie let out a delicate snort. “You’ve got that right,
son.”

Aiden knew Miss Annie was actually fond
of Bram. She’d often babysat both brothers when they were snotty little runts,
despite their father’s objections about a Doyle looking after his sons. Aiden’s
mother had ignored his protests, because Miss Annie was her dear friend. Like most
of the women in the Flynn and Doyle families, they steered clear of the feud that
was carried on by the damn fool men.

“Can I buy you a drink?” he asked,
trying to defuse the tension.

Miss Annie’s gaze coasted over the crowd
that watched with undisguised anticipation. Then her eagle-eyed gaze snapped
back to him. “I’ll not be drinking with any Flynn until I get my answer.”

What the hell? When had Miss Annie
started playing Hatfields and McCoys? “What answer would that be, ma’am?”

She jabbed a gnarly finger at Aiden. “I
asked that brother of yours why your father was spreading rumors about the car
ferry. That’s when you barged in on us.”

“They’re not rumors,” Bram interjected
hotly.

Aiden glared at his brother. “Shut. Up.”
Then he turned back to Miss Annie. “Exactly what rumors?”

“Sean’s been claiming that the developer
won’t buy his land unless the town builds a car ferry dock. And he says if the
Doyles convince people to vote against it, there’ll be no development at all.”

“Well, I think that’s the case. If the
town won’t build the dock, the developer isn’t interested in going ahead with
the project.” Aiden glanced over his shoulder at Bram. “Don’t people know that
already?”

When the onlookers started jabbering at
once, Aiden had his answer.

Miss Annie sidestepped him to resume her
rant at Bram. “It’s pure blackmail, if you ask me. Why are you and your father
in bed with those greedy mainlanders? Shame on you, Bram Flynn!”

Bram loomed over the old woman, looking
furious. “You can’t talk to me like that, Miss Annie. Not even you!”

Swallowing a curse, Aiden figured he’d
better pull Bram out of the bar before Miss Annie started whacking him upside
the head. He grabbed his brother’s arm again just as the door opened and the
deputy sheriff strode in.

Deputy Micah Lancaster, Aiden’s sworn
rival in high school and just what he didn’t need right now.

When his idiot brother tried to push him
out of the way so he could continue arguing with Miss Annie, Aiden grabbed him
by the shoulders to manhandle him out the door. But then a slender, feminine
figure popped out of the crowd and gently eased Miss Annie away from Bram.

Sweet Mother of God, it was Lily Doyle,
up close and personal.

The tumult around him faded as Aiden
drank her in, starting at her pretty, gold-painted toenails showcased by
matching sparkly flip-flops, and then traveling all the way up to her gorgeous
face. She was wearing a denim skirt short enough to show off a fair amount of
spectacular leg and a slim-fitting, sleeveless, white polo shirt that showcased
her tan. Her auburn hair fell in soft waves around her shoulders, and her
emerald eyes sparkled with amusement. Her Irish-fair complexion seemed devoid
of makeup, and he could see the freckles tossed lightly across the bridge of
her nose and cheeks. Yeah, he remembered kissing those freckles, and that
luscious mouth too. Lily was the embodiment of a sweet, all-American girl—a girl
who was as smart as a whip and a lobster boat captain who held her own in a
rugged man’s world. Not to mention she was also the island’s reigning darts
champion, which definitely meant something in Seashell Bay.

She was one hell of a sexy package, and
she rocked Aiden right back on his heels. A quizzical look pulled Lily’s
eyebrows together and made him realize he was gaping at her.

Author Info

V.K.
Sykes is really two people – Vanessa Kelly and Randy Sykes, a husband and wife
team who write USA Today Bestselling contemporary romance and also romantic
suspense. Randy excels at plot and characterization, but tends to fall down on
the job when it comes to that pesky old thing called emotion. That’s where
Vanessa steps in. She usually writes the sex scenes too, since Randy is a bit
uncomfortable when it comes to that sort of stuff. Vanessa also writes
award-winning Regency-set historical romance for Kensington Zebra under her own
name. You can check out Vanessa’s bestselling historical romances at www.vanessakellyauthor.com